The Magic Ring
- Dog and cat -
- A Thadou Folk Tale retold -

High School Textbook *

Once upon a time, there lived a poor widow and her son. The boy worked hard to help his mother. One day, as he was going to market to sell a cock, he found a python trapped in a net. Some Kabuis had set the trap.

Seeing the helpless python, he felt sad. He made a plea to the Kabuis, "Please don't kill it. Set it free. You can take my cock in its place." The Kabuis took his cock and freed the python.

With no money to buy food for himself and his mother, the boy returned sadly. On the way, a stranger stopped him and said, "Don't be afraid. I am the python you saved. I owe you my life, dear friend. Please come to my house. My mother will be pleased to see you. She will give a big reward to you."

The boy was surprised and confused. The stranger went on, "Don't accept anything. Just ask her to give the ring she wears. Not knowing what to do, he simply followed the stranger.

They reached a big lake. The stranger spoke, "Friend, my family lives inside the water. We shall have to dive." Before the boy could turn back, the stranger caught his legs and pulled him in the water. A little later, they reached a spot where there was a huge mansion. They went inside.

There, he found the stranger's parents waiting for their son. After listening to the story, the parents were very happy. The mother said gratefully, "You have saved the life of my only son. I am extremely pleased. The house is full of valuable wealth. Take as much as you want." The boy was unable to speak.

Seeing this the son spoke, "Mother, he is very poor. If you want to reward him, please give him the ring on your finger." "My dear, he can have whatever he wants but I cannot give him the ring," replied the mother.

"Mother, I am your only son. He saved my life and you cannot give him even a ring! It seems that your ring is more precious than my life. I will go and fall in the trap again. Let those men kill me. I don't want to live anymore."

The mother was worried. She immediately gave the ring to the boy, saying, "Nothing is more precious than the life of my son. Take the ring". The son felt happy and said "Come, I will take you to the surface of the lake".

On the way, he told the boy that it was not an ordinary ring, "It is a magic ring. When you make a command, it will provide whatever you want. But be careful. Keep it a secret," he continued.

As soon as he reached home, the boy asked his mother to serve food. The mother took out empty plates and scolded him for not bringing food. Then the son went into the kitchen and ordered the magic ring to bring the choicest dishes for them. The mother was surprised to see the tastiest dishes in front of her. In this way, with the help of the magic ring, they began to live happily.

One day, the son requested his mother to go and ask for the hand of the village Chief's daughter for him. The mother approached the Chief, "O great one, please give your daughter in marriage to my son." The Chief laughed, "Look at yourself. You are a poor widow. How can you dream of your son marrying my daughter?"

"My son will make your daughter happy and comfortable, O great one," replied the mother.

The Chief wanted to humour her. He said, "If you want my consent, bring a big bull, a sack of gold and a diamond necklace tomorrow morning. Only then, will I say yes."

The mother returned home sadly. She told her son about the Chief's demands. Her son laughed, "Mother, be ready to go to him tomorrow morning." At midnight, he ordered the magic ring to build a mansion with several servants. He also ordered the ring to provide all the things the Chief demanded.

In the morning, the Chief was surprised to see the widow with all the things. He could not refuse now. Thus the widow's son and the Chief's daughter were married.

As they lived happily many people were jealous of them. One day when they visited the Chief's house, a servant stole the ring. On discovering the loss, the son felt sad. He called his dog and cat near him, "Find my ring. Don't come back until you find it." The dog and the cat went in search of the ring. They searched for days but did not find it.

Tired and exhausted, they were lying on the ground when a rat came out in search of food. They pounced on the helpless rat and said, "We are hungry, we have to eat you." The rat was frightened and said, "Please don't eat me. I will do whatever you say." Then they said, "Promise us to bring back our master's lost ring. We will spare your life."

The rat promised and went off in search of the ring. Soon, the rat found it hidden in the servant's cupboard. He quietly took it out and gave it to the dog and the cat. They were happy. Soon, they started arguing on who should take the ring to the master.

"I will carry it half way through and you carry it for the remaining half", said the dog. The cat agreed. The dog took the ring inside its mouth. As they were crossing a river on a floating log of wood, the dog saw a fish swimming nearby. Immediately, he started barking.

The ring fell into the water. The fish swallowed it and swam away. They were helpless. They sat on the bank of the river and thought deeply. Suddenly, they saw a pair of otters going to the river to catch fish. They immediately pounced upon the otters and threatened to kill them. "Please don't kill us. We will do whatever you want us to do," pleaded the otters.

"Go, find the fish which swallowed our master's ring. We will spare your lives."

One of the otters dived into the water and caught the fish. He gave it to the dog and the cat.

They split open its belly and found the ring there. They washed it in the river and kept it on a stone to dry. A kite suddenly swooped down and flew away with the ring. They were helpless again. Then they caught a lynx from the jungle and ordered it to find the kite.

After climbing many trees, the lynx found the kite and the ring. It was soon returned to the dog and the cat. Now the cat put the ring round its tail and they hurried to their master's house. "Our master will be delighted," said the cat. "He will reward us with sweets and other good things to eat," added the dog.

"Let our importance be felt in the house. We will wait outside. Only when our master calls us and offers us the sweets by himself, we will eat," suggested the cat.

"Yes, it will show how much he loves us," replied the dog. Both agreed and returned home.

The master was delighted to see them. He was overjoyed to see his ring. He ordered his servants to serve the choicest food for the two. The servants brought delicious food and called them. However, they did not enter the house. They were waiting for their master's call.

The servants called them again. But they did not respond. In the meantime the aroma of the delicious food tempted the dog. He could not resist it any longer. He started eating. After finishing his share, he started eating the cat's share too. The cat was very angry.

He slapped the dog and scratched his face. They began fighting. Hearing the noise, the master came out. He asked, "Why are you fighting? What is the reason?" They remained silent. But, ever since that day dogs and cats have continued to fight whenever and wherever they meet.

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* This is a Thadou folk tale retold and is part of text book prescribed for High School student in Manipur under Board of Secondar Education Manipur (BSEM). This was webcasted on December 28th, 2009.

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